AB0996 PERCEIVED EFFECTS OF HEALTH STATUS ON SEXUAL ACTIVITY IN PATIENTS WITH AXIAL SPONDYLOARTHRITIS OVER A 5-YEAR PERIOD
Authors: K. H. Berg, G. Rohde, H. Vestaby, G. Haugeberg
Journal: Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases (2023)

<h3>Background</h3> Axial spondyloarthritis (axSpA) is a chronic inflammatory disorder of the axial skeleton and may involve peripheral joints, entheses and other organs, which may cause pain, fatigue, stiffness, loss of physical function. The persons health status may influence on sexual activity and enjoyment. Sexual activity is one of the key functions in human beings and affects both quality of life (QOL) and sexual QOL. <h3>Objectives</h3> To explore perceived effects of health status on sexual activity in patients with axSpA over a 5-year period. <h3>Methods</h3> Patients with axSpA were consecutively recruited from two public outpatient rheumatology clinics in Southern Norway (Martina Hansens Hospital (MHH), and Sørlandet Hospital (SSHF)). A broad specter of data was collected which included: demographic (age, weight, employment, education, married or cohabiting and if they had a partner to have sex with), disease activity and damage (MASES, CRP, BASMI, 68 tender and 66 swollen joints), current medication (NSAID, CsDMARD and bDMARD) and comorbidities (yes/no). A summed score was generated to reflect overall co-morbidity. Quality of life were measured by 15D, which also included a question on perceived influence of health status on sexual activity. Item 15 in the 15D questionnaire was used to study the effect of health status on sexual activity. with the following response options: My state of health: has no adverse effect on my sexual activity, slight effect, considerable effect, makes sexual activity almost impossible, makes sexual activity impossible to analyze the effects of health on sexual activity, we dichotomized the five responses to item 15 in the 15D instrument, which were related to sexual activity. Responses 1 and 2 were grouped into "no/little effects" and the other three categories were grouped into "large effects". The same data collection performed at baseline was also performed at the five-year follow-up. <h3>Results</h3> A total of 245 patients (168 men and 77 women) with (At baseline the mean age was 46 years (SD ± 11.9) mean disease duration 13.9 years (SD ± 11.4). At 5-years follow-up 44 (18%) patients reported their health status to have large effects on their sexual activity, while 200 (82%) reported no/little effect. The same pattern was seen at baseline. However, 24 patients changed from reporting large effect at baseline to no/little effect at 5-year follow-up, while 26 patients changed from no/little effect to large effect. When comparing patients reporting their health status to have no/little effect on sexual activity versus the one with large effect on sexual activity, the same pattern of differences was seen at both baseline and 5-year follow-up. However, the differences seemed to be more prominent at 5-year follow-up. Focusing on 5-years follow-up differences; patients reporting their health status to have a large effect on sexual activity were older (54 (10) years vs 50 (11) years, p=0.014), fewer were employed (74% vs 47%, p&lt;0.001), exercised less (77% vs 92%, p=0.003), had more co-morbidities (1.5 (1.3) vs 0.8 (1.1), p=0.002), higher CRP (10.2 (19.1) vs 4.6 (7.0), p=0.002), higher BASDAI (4.7 (2.2) vs 2.5 (2.0), p&lt;0.001) higher BASFI (3.9 (2.2) vs 2.0 (2.0), p&lt;0.001), higher BAS-G (5.3 (2.6) vs 2.6 (2.4), p&lt;0.001 and higher HAQ (0.81 (0.45) vs 0.37 (0.4), p&lt;0.001). <h3>Conclusion</h3> Approximately 20% of axSpA patients reported their health status to have a large negative effect on their sexual activity both at baseline and 5-year follow-up. From baseline to 5-year follow-up there has been an increase in comorbidities, and the increase has been larger in patients reporting the disease to have a large negative effect on sexual activity. <h3>REFERENCES:</h3> NIL. <h3>Acknowledgements:</h3> NIL. <h3>Disclosure of Interests</h3> None Declared.